By Cary Shuman
The City of Revere and the Revere Arabic Community held an Egyptian Flag Raising Ceremony Oct. 5 at City Hall.
Acting Mayor Patrick Keefe welcomed the many residents to the ceremony that commemorated Egypt’s independence.
“Welcome to City Hall Plaza and thank you for joining us today for the celebration of Egypt’s independence,” said Keefe. “We are honored to have so many festive events in front of City Hall, sending a clear message that Revere is a home with rich culture and diversity. We are honor and celebrate the independence of Egypt, people of determination, strong will, and compassion.”
Keefe noted the presence at the ceremony of “our great friend, Saber Abougalala and his entire family.” Abougalala, who has owned and operated The Good Diner on Broadway since 2009, was one of the donors for the program. “Saber never turns down an opportunity to help his fellow neighbors,” said Keefe.
Rep. Giannino said, “It’s a real pleasure to be here today to celebrate the independence of Egypt. And we celebrate all the contributions that Egypt has made to the United States of America. These are contributions to science, to the arts, to our food, to our culture, to the way we celebrate, and it’s such a wonderful way to acknowledge these contributions and celebrate our Egyptian community in Revere.”
Rep. Turco told the gathering, “I’ve done some extensive world travel, and you go to Europe, and you go to a cathedral, or you go to the opera in Paris, and it’s 300 to 500 years old, and you think, ‘wow, this is pretty impressive.’ “Then you go to Egypt, and it’s thousands of years before the so-called advanced Western culture. And you look at what Egyptians have done throughout history with the building of the pyramids and the Sphinx. The best engineers in the world can’t figure how the Egyptians got those things built, how they built a whole civilization that to this day has really transformed the world. Egypt’s on my bucket list. I look forward to one day talking about my personal experiences there.”
Asmaa Abou-Fouda, Co-Founder and President of the Revere Arabic Community, thanked the guests for attending the first Egyptian Flag Raising Ceremony in the City of Revere.
“We are here today to celebrate and honor Egyptian history of 7,000 years of civilization,” said Abou-Fouda. “We will continue to have events like this and hope that you all can join and be a part of our community.”
Nadeem Mazen, a former Cambridge city councillor and an MIT graduate, also delivered remarks, noting that “Egypt is a place that is growing rapidly and has much to offer the world, in terms of its services, goods, and tourism. The entire region of the Middle East and North Africa would be an incredible gift for all of us – Arab, Egyptian, and American – who had the opportunity to go into that part of the world.”
Mazen said celebrations of culture, such as the one held in Revere, “are just the beginning, an invitation to begin something wonderful.”
The ceremony concluded with the playing of the Egyptian national anthem, “Bilady, Bilady, Bilady,” and the flag-raising ceremony, followed by performances of Egyptian dances.
